


What We've Been Through

by MayGlenn



Series: May's February Ficlet Challenge 2019 [24]
Category: The Lord of the Rings - All Media Types, The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Angst with a Happy Ending, Boromir Lives, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Palantír(i), Reunions, Shippy if you Squint
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-01
Updated: 2019-03-01
Packaged: 2019-11-07 10:02:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 694
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17958401
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MayGlenn/pseuds/MayGlenn
Summary: “What the fuck!”“Pippin, don’t say such—what the fuck!”The hobbits clutched at each other, several possible worries accosting their curly heads: First, and most likely, that they had simply had too much to drink; Second, that the mushrooms they had picked and fried and eaten had not been the kind of mushrooms they thought they were—which was more distressing because hobbits knew their mushrooms than for any other reason (if they had wanted to get high, they would have picked those mushrooms); Third, that what they thought was Old Toby was definitely not that kind of pipeweed.Fourth, and most distressing of all, the hobbits worried that after all he had done for them, befriending them, protecting them, sacrificing his life for them, and giving them several piggyback rides each when they just couldn’t bring themselves to want to walk any further, that Boromir had come back as some sort of ghost.





	What We've Been Through

“What the fuck!”

“Pippin, don’t say such—what the _fuck_!”

The hobbits clutched at each other, several possible worries accosting their curly heads: First, and most likely, that they had simply had too much to drink; Second, that the mushrooms they had picked and fried and eaten had not been the kind of mushrooms they thought they were—which was more distressing because hobbits _knew their mushrooms_ than for any other reason (if they had _wanted_ to get high, they would have picked those mushrooms); Third, that what they thought was Old Toby was definitely not _that_ kind of pipeweed.

Fourth, and most distressing of all, the hobbits worried that after all he had done for them, befriending them, protecting them, sacrificing his life for them, and giving them several piggyback rides each when they just couldn’t bring themselves to want to walk any further, that Boromir had come back as some sort of ghost.

“Nice to see you, too,” Boromir said.

“First Gandalf, now—”

Boromir held up his hands to stop them. “Look, I was only _mostly_ dead.”

“But Strider said—”

“Come on. If you had the chance to tell your Healer-King he fucked up a diagnosis, wouldn’t you?” Boromir said with a grin, and then shrugged. “The Lady of Lorien sent me back—to...ah, _atone_...”

In the big man’s suddenly awkward silence, Merry and Pippin looked at each other, and then as one, rushed in for a hug. Boromir knelt to welcome them into his arms, and, true to character, they took advantage of this display of vulnerability and knocked him over.

“You brute! Pippin cried for you!” Merry said, pulling his beard.

“Merry cried more!” Pippin said, hitting Boromir in the chest.

“Ouch! Watch it!” Boromir laugh-groaned. “I was still shot with arrows, remember? Also...hang on, did you get taller?”

Merry and Pippin laughed. “So you haven’t met Treebeard yet! Gandalf really did sneak you in!”

“I’ve only seen him and Aragorn,” Boromir confirmed. “I wanted to make sure I saw you two. Where are Legolas and Gimli?”

“We have learned not to ask when they disappear together,” Merry said primly and firmly.

Boromir blinked, and then laughed. “Good! Good…”

Merry and Pippin beckoned him back to where their bedrolls were, and shared their food with him. He was dressed and armed finely, but looked a little pale and thin upon closer inspection. “Tell us where you’ve been! Maybe you can distract Pippin from thinking about Gandalf’s stones constantly.”

“Uhh…” Boromir’s eyes grew wide. “Gandalf’s—?”

Merry snorted, but Pippin scowled.

“His _stone_! The...the shiny rock he got from Saruman! I just want—I just want to look at it,” Pippin said, pouting.

Maybe it was just his natural protective instincts, or maybe there was something in the way Pippin’s eyes glinted that Boromir recognized in a visceral way, but Boromir reached out and tugged the youngest hobbit close, keeping a heavy arm around him. “That’s...what I told myself, too, at first.”

Pippin glowered, but he turned and buried his face against Boromir’s chest.

“I don’t recommend it,” Boromir added quietly. “Breaking up a Fellowship isn’t fun.”

“It’s alright, Boromir,” Merry said, touching his knee. But then he yawned and stretched out on his bedroll. “But, if you’re feeling guilty, Pippin can be your responsibility, now. I’m tired!”

“I’ll keep watch,” Boromir said, but he was talking to Pippin.

“You will?” Pippin sounded disappointed, but also relieved. “I guess you’ve had more sleep than us, being recently mostly-dead.”

“I’ve had enough sleep to keep watch,” Boromir agreed. “I don’t have much of a story, but I feel like you do. We can keep each other awake.”

Pippin sighed and scrunched down against him, getting comfortable. “Yeah. That sounds alright. I’m going to stress-eat all your food, Merry.”

“I don’t care, just let me sleep!” Merry said, but even as he closed his eyes he listened while Boromir told them of his journey, and Pippin told him of theirs.

By morning, the spell was broken, and Pippin was far more interested in stealing Gandalf’s breakfast than the seeing stone.  

“What the fuck!”

“Legolas, don’t say such—what the _fuck_!”

**Author's Note:**

> Twenty-fourth in the February Ficlet Challenge of 2019. The prompt was "Death and/or rebirth." 
> 
> This week was crazy, but at least I got one more in under the wire!!
> 
> (And yes, I know there's no way Boromir could have been healed in time to meet up with the Fellowship after they defeat Saruman, so let's assume hand-wavey elf magic was involved.)


End file.
